Chargers also avoid major salary cap hit by keeping veteran receiver for another season

Last year, the Chargers and wide receiver Robert Meachem began their high-priced partnership on an off note. They’ll have one more chance to make it right.

Meachem is expected to remain with the club for the foreseeable future. Coach Mike McCoy and wide receivers coach Fred Graves reached out to the ex-Saint shortly after being hired last month and indicated their desire to move forward together, a source said.

There are financial factors for allowing Meachem more time to find a rhythm.

Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco said there is a football one, too.

“I was actually watching the tape of him,” Telesco said. “Early on in the year when he played a little more, he looked pretty good to me, so I’m excited to see him in OTAs, running routes, up close and personal and get to know him a little better.”

Meachem caught 14 of 32 targets last season for a career-low 207 yards and two touchdowns.

To part with him now would be costly.

He was the Chargers’ first and most expensive acquisition in the 2012 league year, signing a four-year, $25.5 million contract in March with a $7.5 million signing bonus. For 2013, his $5 million base salary is fully guaranteed, so cutting him would result in a $10.625 million cap hit.

If kept on the roster, his cap number is $6.875 million, or $3.75 million cheaper.

Meachem’s role was minimized over the course of last season, beginning after a critical Week 8 drop against the Browns.

A bye week followed the one-point road loss, and Meachem strained a hamstring in practice that forced him to miss the next game. Newly signed wide receivers Danario Alexander and Seyi Ajirotutu provided a spark in his absence, and when Meachem returned the next week, his role in the offense didn’t.

Alexander led the team with 37 catches for 658 yards and seven touchdowns the final nine games. In his last eight, Meachem played 43 snaps, or 8.5 percent of the offense’s total, with three passes thrown his way. He caught two of them for 18 yards.

There were questions on the team’s previous coaching staff about Meachem’s ability to be more than a straight-line wide receiver.

The Chargers invested in him to become much more, agreeing to contract terms on the first evening of free agency. Earlier that day, Pro Bowler Vincent Jackson became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Buccaneers.

If Meachem fails his second audition, there almost certainly won’t be a third.

His $5 million base salary in 2014 is not guaranteed. While releasing him now would cost the team $3.75 million against the cap, doing so around this time next year would save the team $3.125 million in cap space.

He may not project currently as a starter in the Chargers’ offense, but playmaking from the 28-year-old would be an added coup for the team’s receiving corps.

The Chargers return third-year receiver Vincent Brown (broken ankle), who missed all of last regular season. He could have returned toward the end if necessary and is expected to be a full participant when the Chargers’ voluntary offseason workout program begins in April.

Malcom Floyd and Eddie Royal are also under contract. Alexander and kick returner Richard Goodman, both restricted free agents, are expected to sign one-year tenders. They must be offered before the March 12 start of the new league year.